Black Codes
The '''Black Codes '''were a series of laws and programs in a variety of Sednyanese cities and counties that legalized segregation on the basis of race, in place sporadically from the 1500s to the 36th Amendment in 1826 that made all explicit forms of legal segregation unconstitutional. However, even without nominal "Black Codes," ''de facto ''segregation continued to exist in several major cities through what were sometimes called "Gray Codes" until 1910. The first of such codes was instituted in Karibula as early as 1538, as a growing white majority sought to legalize the unwritten forms of discrimination that had divided the city into white and black areas during the royal era; these codes were printed in a small, black-covered pamphlet and distributed throughout the city, containing maps that divided the area between "white" and "colored" neighborhoods and outlined principles for which facilities could be used by white and black residents of the city. This was the first "Black Code" - a moniker taken up allegedly based on the color of the books the code was printed in, although just as likely also referred to "laws governing black people." 1826-1910: "Gray Codes" In the wake of the 36th Amendment, the Black Codes in place in Niavara, Karibula, Monopodia, Cethen, Ross City, Durham, Santursbury, Camberlade and other cities were all officially declared unconstitutional, although it would take several years of court battles to officially remove some from the books. For several years in cities such as Niavara, people of color moved freely throughout the city and began using the same facilities as whites. However, most famously in Niavara but also in several other cities, the Black Codes gradually came bac in a form that could be less easily constitutionally challenged. Rather than explicitly using the language of race, these codes typically used other proxies - such as economic background, or neighborhood of origin - to institute policies of "separate but equal" schools for "people of different backgrounds and traditions," influenced by the politics of Scamander Crake. The codes in Monopodia and Cethen were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1839 and 1844, respectively, although Cethen's would reappear in an even more pared down form in 1850. Niavara's was famously challenged by a team of Incean lawyers in 1846, spurred on by the successes on the coast; however, a changed makeup of the Supreme Court led to an extremely close decision declaring it legal, as it "did not make law based solely or primarily on race" - the standard set the 36th Amendment. Following this decision, momentum began for a further constitutional amendment making any law that resulted in racial discrimination illegal. As this movement gained steam, conservative politicians aggressively pushed back on it; frustrated, the Incean radical group ''Na Shayam ''would orchestrate a massive gas explosion in the Wellbusier Building in Cethen in October of 1858, killing over 800 people, including many wealthy industrialists. This massively turned public opinion against the movement, which would become the first group labeled by the Sednyanese government as a "terrorist organization." Going underground, ''Na Shayam ''would merge with growing elements of underground socialism.